"I am proud to have surrounded myself with some of the brightest people in the industry, who share my passion for serving our clients and are dedicated to growing this great firm for many years to come."

Joel S. Isaacson,

Founder and CEO

Welcome to Joel Isaacson & Co.

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC is a leading independent wealth management firm in New York City—with the knowledge and resources to plan for our clients’ needs. For over 20 years, we have been providing comprehensive fee-only wealth management services to our clients. Our independence means that our focus is clearly on our clients’ best interests. We are not attached to any big institutional firms and we maintain our objectivity at all times to provide our clients with our best possible advice to help them achieve their personal and business goals.

Market Commentary

As you review your 2014 investment statements, we thought it would be helpful to share some of our thoughts with regards to recent market performance.

As the year drew to a close, a handful of big-picture issues dominated the investment landscape: the plunging price of oil, positive economic indicators in the United States relative to most of the globe, and the ongoing influence of central banks (a key effect of which has been to bolster stocks and other risk assets).

Large-cap U.S. stocks continued their unusually strong and unbroken stretch of gains. The S&P 500 rose 14% and avoided even a modest 10% “correction” for the third year in a row. While most diversified, global equity portfolios participated nicely on an absolute return basis in 2014, they also would be considered to have lagged if only compared to the U.S. Large Cap weighted S&P 500 index. This is because most other major stock markets fared poorly in 2014. Small Cap U.S. stocks returned only 3.5%, while Developed International stocks lost 5% and emerging-markets stocks dropped 2%.

Relative to history, we have seen an unusually strong stretch of U.S. outperformance relative to foreign markets. This same strong stretch has made it difficult for some active managers to keep up with the friction-less, expense free indices they are often compared to. As long term investors, it is important to remember there have been and always will be periods, some longer than others, where certain asset classes or investment styles will outperform others. During these periods, it is especially important to remain committed to one’s investment discipline and process. History has taught us that periods of underperformance (either from quality active managers or proven investment strategies) are often followed by outperformance, and trying to time these periods is a losing game. It is with this in mind that we remain committed to our diversified approach to equity investing.

A Message from Joel Isaacson

“We have a special relationship with our clients where they look at us as their Family CFO.”